Hajo van Beijma of Text to Change Foundation

Hajo van Beijma co-founded Text to Change (TTC) and has been working on the Text to Change programs. Hajo is responsible for developing new programs, partnerships and heading the finance department.

With a special interest in health communication it has been always one of his goals to work in Africa. When he learnt about the enormous growth of mobile telephony, especially in Africa, he got the idea of using Mobile telephones to reach out to people with health and educational messages. Together with two colleagues he founded the Text to Change (TTC) Foundation early 2007.

Until now Mobile telephony was never been used on such a large scale and systematic manner for this purpose. Text to Change has created an uptake in HIV testing of 35% in the regions where they launch their text message based quiz. After the pilot period TTC has scaled up and is now working on all health topics in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia.



We were honored when Hajo took time out of his busy schedule to address our questions...

www.infoafricanow.com: What inspired you to work in Africa

Hajo: Being born in The Netherlands the first thing I learned is that the world is bigger than the 15 million people there. I always looked for a job with more adventure and once you hit the ground in Africa you know you want to go back and do more with the resources we have in Europe to support the bottom-up ICT innovation in Africa.

www. infoafricanow.com: How did the concept of TTC come about?

Hajo: The three founders of TTC had a mixed background: ICT, Marketing and a medical doctor. The medical doctor discussed the lack of innovation at HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns around the world and the other two came up with text message quizzes, one thing led to another.

www.infoafricanow.com: With resounding success in Uganda, what are TTC's future plans?

Hajo: TTC has expanded to Kenya, Namibia and will soon start in Tanzania, Cameroon and Bolivia. TTC wants to address more health topics and is starting to work on adding value to economic development and educational programs as well.

www.infoafricanow.com: How can the private sector in Africa support mobile phone initiatives?

Hajo: The private sector is very important, mobile operators play a key role in our partnerships and we have also setup awareness campaigns among the employees of companies in Uganda and Kenya.

www.infoafricanow.com: Any words of advice to those wishing to venture into the African
mobile phone market?

Hajo: Look at bottom-up demand from people in the region where you want to work, mobile banking and mobile money transfers are a great example that include a business model as well. Combining current microfinance projects with mobile phones and ventures working on social mobile advertising have my interest...

Hajo van Beijma - Mobiles for development

View more presentations from Mobile Monday Amsterdam.

For more information, have a look at www.texttochange.com

Bush Adventures of Kenya

Laura and Silas started Bush Adventures in 2009, with the basic aim of giving an individual the authentic experience the Maasai way of living, as they have lived for thousands of years.

Here we quote Laura's update on Bush Adventures, 8 remarkable months later....

"It's been a momentouos 8 months since Silas and I first started developing the idea of Bush Adventures, and we are very proud of how fast and how well we have managed to set everything up. In December we opened our tented camp and started welcoming our first visitors: their comments were enthusiastic, they really liked the experience and this has been very encouraging for us.



Since we really enjoy developing new activities, we are designing different programmes to suit special interests. Besides the three trainings on the website, we have developed a 4 days program for families with children 5-11 years old, with games and traditional activities for the kids alongside some warrior training activities for the parents. We are currently looking for an adventurous family that would like to come out here and test the activities with us- we know they are safe, we just want to check that they are fun for kids. If any of you is interested, please let me know.
In June we shall run a pilot Maasai/marathon training for those who wish to take part in the Lewa marathon on June 26 (http://www.lewa.org/lewa_marathon.php ): one week running in the bush and learning fighting techniques, tracking animals and traditional survival techniques. If you are interested in taking part in this pilot trip please send me an email. And if you have some ideas for the name, please let me know!

Media are starting to notice us: we have had a few journalists coming to visit us, and their articles should appear soon in some major Italian magazines and UK newspapers: I shall send you some more details as soon as they are published- perhaps we’ll become famous ...

If you would like to try our trainings, our standard prices are $ 1650 for the introductory program, 3000 $ for the survivor program and $ 4950 for the full 12 days program. Prices are all inclusive from your arrival at the camp to when you leave it, i.e. they exclude international flights and transport from Nairobi – however I can organize the latter for you.

For those seeking a more traditional safari here in Kenya, I can help you to choose unusual and beautiful itineraries, as well as to find hotels and lodges outside the well trodden paths.

I hope to hear from you all soon,

Kind regards"

Laura.

Fisherman's Camp, Kenya

Fisherman's Camp in Naivasha is a household name in Kenya. With a magnificent view of Lake Naivasha and plenty of space for camping enthusiasts, this campsite is one of our personal favourites.






In the evening, hippos emerge and graze as dinner is served on the camp's balcony, an enchanting sight indeed!

For more information: http://fishermanscampkenya.com/

Winnie Ojanga's Summer Collection 2010

Winnie Ojanga is a Switzerland based designer with a great 2010 collection just released, and here is a taste of her style

UK based Beauty of Rwanda

www.infoafricanow.com just had the pleasure of having a one on one with Beauty of Rwanda, a UK based company whose sole purpose is to sell Rwandan artifacts to Europe and the rest of the world. The new company has wonderful plans in store, and we are honored to share them with you...

infoafricanow.com: What is Beauty of Rwanda?

Beauty of Rwanda is a unique for profit company that is working to change the lives of impoverished Rwandans. We are trying to restore and heal the people of Rwanda. The vision of the company is to sell Rwandan artifacts to people in the west thus helping all the craftsmen and women of Rwanda, many of whom are survivors of the Rwanda genocide against the Tutsi that took place in 1994.

www.infoafricanow.com: Where are you based?

Beauty of Rwanda: We are based in Newcastle, United Kingdom.

www.infoafricanow.com: What products do you sell?

Beauty of Rwanda: We sell hand made products from Rwanda. They are made from papyrus, sisal, banana and grass fibre and other raw materials from Rwanda.

www.infoafricanow.com: What are some of the challenges you are facing in the process of selling crafts in the west?

Beauty of Rwanda: I know that there is huge interest in African artifacts both from ex-pats living in Europe, North America etc.and/or others who may have visited Africa on holiday as tourists.
The challenge is to find a way to bring to market genuinely locally sourced products rather than mass produced fakes which do not benefit the real crafts men and women of Africa.


www.infoafricanow.com: What is your take on the African Crafts market?

Beauty of Rwanda: The market is there and it's huge but how huge is the key question.... We are trying to sell from a website (www.beautyofrwanda.com) so that we can capture those who can't physically travel to Rwanda to buy the crafts. In other words, we are going to bring Rwanda to them!

www.infoafricanow.com: Are you open to partnerships with artisans in other African countries apart from Rwanda?

Beauty of Rwanda: Yes, absolutely, provided that it fitted in with the overall ethos of Beauty of Rwanda.

www.infoafricanow.com: What inspired you to venture into this trade?

Beauty of Rwanda: I knew of different men and women associations based in Rwanda that sold rwandan crafts. Most of the members of these groups are survivors of the genocide as I had earlier mentioned. Some are the wives of men serving time for atrocities they committed in the genocide. Others are women who were raped and are HIV positive. The work they do is their only means of earning a livelihood for them and their families. These women are very skilled and their crafts are beautiful but their finished products were only being sold in Rwanda and one or two other countries....They are my inspiration.

www.infoafricanow.com: What are your future plans?

Beauty of Rwanda: Our dream is to bring the traditional culture and produce of Rwanda to a worldwide audience. The success of the company will be measured by the improved quality of life and opportunities of the craftsmen and women of Rwanda. One day, maybe a shop right here in Newcastle? Wow...that would be amazing.

www.infoafricanow.com: What advice would you give anyone venturing into the international crafts trade?

Beauty of Rwanda: One has to research the market just like any other thing I suppose. This is a first for us so we are still learning and taking every good advice on board. We hope many people will take the journey with us.

For more information, email Beauty of Rwanda at info@beautyofrwanda.com, or take a peak at their beautiful website: www.beautyofrwanda.com They can also be found on twitter: @beautyofrwanda

Kenya's Mara Timbo Camp

Weaver Press Zimbabwe linked to www.infoafricanow.com

Weaver Press Zimbabwe is now linked to www.infoafricanow.com. Weaver press is an authoritative publishing house in Zimbabwe, covering topics like literature, history, law and children's books. We have successfully listed over seventy books from Weaver Press on www.infoafricanow.com.




For more information, the following links will be useful:

http://www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com/
http://www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com/useful-links.html